Duplicity
by GoldKing
Summary: Uzumaki Sakura wants to know why Hinata's children are blond. A tale told in bits and pieces, in one-shots and drabbles. Hyuuga-centric.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do hereby disclaim any rights or responsibilities to the Naruto universe. All of that belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.  
><strong>Note: <strong>I've always wanted to do a drabble series.

**EDIT: **I'm doing some serious revamping. I'll be going through the chapters and re-writing them.

So, let's begin . . .

* * *

><p><strong>Illusions<strong>

* * *

><p>This is Konoha.<p>

This is Konoha at peace. Everything is beautiful and lush, thriving ten years after the Fourth Great Shinobi War had nearly destroyed the world. Here is a place that is full of happy people, of children not dying, and of parents coming home.

Yes, this is Konoha at peace.

And this is also all a lie.

No matter how much they smile and pretend everything is all right, the shinobi can sense that this so called _peace _is tenuous at best. They can sense that they are akin to a boulder balancing at the very tip of the mountain, waiting to fall into the abyss that is war once more. Yet they do not speak of it - perhaps do not even know the words for why they feel so anxious. They cannot name the shadows that are creeping at their back . . .

. . . but Uzumaki Naruto can.

He can name every single one -

Rebellion.

Anarchy.

Civil unrest.

The Fourth Great Shinobi War, it seemed, had killed thrice as many civilians than shinobi. Villages full of regular people had been razed to the ground while their inhabitants had been slaughtered like pigs, unable to protect themselves from men and women who had the ability to set the air on fire and destroy mountains with simple utterances - all because they had happened to stand in the way of the _shinobi _war.

And as shinobi basked in their new found peace, civilians were busy burying their dead in mass graves.

Still, this was all little known information to the general shinobi population. It seemed the only ones who cared were the elite of the shinobi villages – the kages who listened to reports of gathering civilian forces armed with mysterious weapons.

Naruto decides that, despite his and his friends' best efforts that another war is coming. This is why it must remain strong for the oncoming storm.

This is why _he _must remain strong; why he must remain incorruptible, powerful, a perfect figure of morality and strength. Essentially, the perfect hokage, for a country is only as strong as its leader.

These are the thoughts that race through his mind on the morning that he is sworn in as the Rokudaime before the entire village. Thousands of faces gather before him, looking up with hopeful smiles that he will finally, _finally, _be the one to lead them to the peace and prosperity they deserve. Of all these faces, there is a particular one in the crowd that he is actively trying to avoid.

"Are you ready?" asks Tsunade, pulling him out of his reverie.

"Yeah," he replies, hands a bit shaky. He's never been this nervous before, and he can't tell if it's because this is the day he's been waiting for his whole life, or because of the news that he had been given just last night.

"Don't worry, brat, you got this," whispers Tsunade before pulling away with a smile. She turns to face the podium and steps up to it to officially begin the inauguration ceremony. A wave of applause welcomes her, and she calmly waits for it to die down before taking a deep breath.

"Today, we step toward the future," she says proudly into the microphone. "Today, we welcome a new hokage. _Today, _we continue a never-ending journey to create a better Konoha . . ."

Slowly, Naruto zones out as Tsunade continues her speech. He stands a bit behind her, waiting to be brought forward. Briefly, he glances from the corner of his eye to his wife of four years. Man, he thinks, she's absolutely beautiful as she listens intently to Tsunade's words, eyes shining brightly with so much pride and love that he wonders just what in the world did he do to deserve her.

His stomach knots with pure dread.

Sakura-chan.

His love, his dream, and the most important person in his life.

And yet.

_And yet. _

Involuntarily, his gaze flickers to the crowd. As fate would have it, he spots her immediately among the thousands of faces. Hinata. The compassionate, kind, and perpetually caring Hinata. Sunlight reflects off her skin as she watches the proceedings with a soft and gentle smile. As usual, she is simply happy that he is happy. That will always be enough for her.

Unable to help himself, his gaze drifts lower from her face.

From her face to her hands . . .

Her hands cradle her swelling belly, barely perceptible beneath her kimono.

Suddenly, his heart aches.

* * *

><p><strong>Arrival<strong>

* * *

><p>Screams echo throughout the Hyuuga compound.<p>

Hyuuga do not trust hospitals. Not since the fourth clan head, Hyuuga Houkan, nearly had his eyes stolen from him by a supposedly honorable and elite doctor nearly eighty-seven years ago. Houkan had obliterated the man's heart, but that day, they learned not to trust anyone but each other. Since then, it is the clan law that all the clan's children must be birthed within their family walls as to protect their precious lives from those who would seek to have their eyes.

Hinata obeys and gives birth at home, deep within the compound.

There is a flurry of Hyuuga women rushing to and fro with bowls of water and clean towels. The air is thick and heady with the smell of blood, and the sharp scent of medicinal herbs. Hinata is in the middle of it all, a writhing figure on a pallet of white sheets. She wears nothing but a pale yukata that has plastered to her skin, nearly translucent with her sweat.

"Here, Hinata-sama, drink this, it will ease the pain," says one of the nursemaids, suddenly pouring a vile of pink liquid into her mouth. Except, it doesn't ease the pain. Nothing will ease the pain. Hinata feels as though she is being torn apart, that everything around her is red and dire and red again.

Briefly, she wonders if she is to perish on the delivery bed as her mother had before her.

Needless to say, it is a difficult birth.

But only because Hinata is making it so.

"Please, Hinata-sama, push _now!"_ pleads the midwife, a matronly branch member who looks up from between Hinata's legs with a look of pure panic.

"I – I can't," Hinata says, and she thinks of giving an explanation but another scream rips from her throat. Her body hurts. _Hurts. _Lightning is zipping through her bones. Pain like this shouldn't exist. Can't exist. Heavens, she's dying.

But the baby . . .

The baby can't come yet!

Just a little bit longer.

She had to have faith.

Absolutely delirious, she barely notices as her sister appears beside her until she feels warmth on her cheeks. Hinata blearily opens her eyes and sees Hanabi smiling down at her, cradling her face. In the barely contained dismay of her sister's white gaze, Hinata can see herself as a sickly looking thing, with all the blood drained from her face and drenched in perspiration – more ghost than woman.

"Hinata, come on, what are you doing," whispers Hanabi gently, frantically, "come on."

Hinata tries to smile at her sister, to reassure her that she's okay, that everything will be all right, but mid-smile there is once again nothing but painpainpain_ithurtssomuch. _Spasms rack her body and the smile is long forgotten, now turned into a grimace.

"_Sister!" _cries Hanabi.

"You must push, Hinata-sama! Your body cannot take much more of this!" cries the midwife.

Taking a cue from the midwife, Hanabi snatches her sisters hand up and begins to whisper in her ear. "Stop waiting for him, Hinata! We sent for him hours ago! He's not coming!"

_No, _Hinata wants to say. _He needs to be here! _But all that is coming out are moans of pain.

"Do you want this baby to die!? Do you!? Because if you wait for that useless man any longer that is what is going to happen! Do not let that happen!" Hanabi yells, barely audible over the commotion of it all.

Everything quiets.

A revelation.

With all her might, Hinata pushes.

.

.

.

On the 21st of June, after seven hours of hard labor, Hinata's baby is born into the world just as the sun begins to rise. It is a little girl with red cheeks and a strong pair of lungs that she uses to cry, and heavens, _heavens, _she is the most beautiful thing that Hinata has ever seen. Tears come to her eyes, and soon she is sobbing over this squalling bundle of joy. The nursemaids pass congratulations around the room. Hanabi smoothes gentle circles over Hinata's back, while their father stands at the foot of the bed, looking unsure as to how to laud his eldest daughter on bringing a bastard child into the world.

Hinata doesn't mind. She's just glad that Hiashi is even here.

This is the greatest day of her life, Hinata thinks as she intimates herself with every facet of her precious daughter's face. She's so happy that she almost forgets that Naruto is nowhere to be found.

Almost.

* * *

><p><strong>Punishment<strong>

* * *

><p>She is Hyuuga Himawari, which is very fitting considering that her hair is as gold yellow as the sunflowers that she is named after.<p>

She is the reason why her mother can no longer be the future Ninth Head of the Hyuuga Clan.

She could also be the reason why her mother will lose much more than that.

"Hinata has dishonored the entire clan!"

"Brand her and that child with the seal!"

"We cannot allow her to have such freedom to shame the Hyuuga!"

Hyuuga clan meetings are usually quiet and dull affairs, but the topic of the former heiress and her bastard child seems to bring out the passions in the elders. Not particularly good passions either. There are sixteen of them sitting in a circle – twelve main branch councilmen, Hanabi, Hinata cradling Himawari in her arms, and a very disconcerted looking Hiashi at the head of it all.

The conference chamber was filled with the cacophony of yelling, bursts of outrage, and downright insults, all of which were directed towards Hinata. She in turn bears the punishment quietly, frowning down at her mewling baby whose loud blonde hair doesn't quite match with her muted pearl-white eyes.

She deserves this, Hinata thinks, not even bothering to stand up for herself.

She deserves every bit of this.

Hanabi, however, disagrees.

"_SHUT UP!" _Her sister yells, slamming her palm to the ground. The forcefulness of it subdues the entire council into a shocked silence. Hanabi continues even as their father sends her a disapproving glare. Her sister has never been so disobedient before.

Then again, Hinata defines the term disobedience by having an illegitimate baby with no husband in sight.

"How dare all of you!" Hanabi seethes, meeting the eyes of each and every single councilmen. "My sister, _your former heiress, _had the dignity to peacefully forfeit her title on her own volition, and yet you want _more? _Now you wish to place the seal on her and her daughter!?"

"I will have not stand for it! I will _not! _As future head of this clan, I demand that my sister be given amnesty-"

"Hanabi."

It is Hinata who interrupts this time, an even more shocking event than her sister's previous outburst, except she speaks as softly as silk. "Please . . . allow me."

They share a look. Reluctantly, Hanabi huffs and leans back just as Hinata bows forward.

"Honorable council," says Hinata, picking her words carefully, "forgive my trespasses, for I know they dishonor our family. My crime is of the highest multitude, and as such, I will gratefully accept the seal for I know that I deserve nothing worse than death."

There are no disagreements from the council. They agree that she deserves to die. Hinata cannot deny that it hurts, yet she continues.

"_However,_ I ask that my daughter and any other children I have after her remain free of the seal. She is guilty of nothing save being born to a weak and sullied mother."

Murmurs fill the room.

.

.

.

Within the week, the Hyuuga Juinjutsu is carved into her head.

Hinata bears the pain without as much as a wince.

Hanabi stands in the corner of the room, looking on completely incensed as she bounces her niece in her arms.

She understands her sister's anger, really she does, but Hanabi doesn't understand why Hinata must do this. Hanabi doesn't understand that Hinata really has sinned in more ways than one. If being marked means that her daughter will not have to be, then Hinata will receive the curse a thousand times over.

Being clan head, being a strong shinobi, being with the man she loves - all of it now pales compared to her daughter.

Nothing is more important than Himawari.

Nothing.

* * *

><p><strong>Updated: 0405/2014**


	2. Chapter 2

**Saving Face**

* * *

><p>As part of her punishment, she is forbidden to leave the compound until the council deems otherwise. Honestly, she doesn't mind because she has been hiding away since her second trimester. No one but fellow clan members have seen her for close to seven months.<p>

Suspicions are avoided with lies.

_Lady Hinata has been sent to Land of Rivers for a diplomatic mission, _clansmen were instructed to say if anyone ventured to ask, and made sure to add, _she will be gone for a long period of time. _

At first, several messenger hawks had arrived from Kiba and Shino, demanding to know where she was and why she would leave without telling them. The answer they received was always the same, non-descript message: _Hinata is in Kawa. Please desist. _

Eventually, the hawks stopped coming.

The Hyuuga shooed any dog that came near any compound, and crushed any bug that resembled the Aburame's _kikaichu _found inside the walls. No secrets were to be found here.

It's odd that a clan so serious about honor will lie and lie if it means that they can keep face.

* * *

><p><strong>Wisteria<strong>

* * *

><p>She spends her days milling about the compound, doing odd tasks here and there – helping elderly great Aunt Hiko with sewing, watching cousin Hamiya's cat while she was on missions, and so on and so on. When she is not doing that, Hinata tends to her mother's old garden, humming quietly to herself as she sows seeds of goji and gingko in the abandoned soil while Himawari slumbers away in a makeshift carrier tied to her back.<p>

It is a quaint, content existence. Summer wind. Blue skies.

Hinata cannot ask for more.

Himawari grows each and every single day, and smiles more than she cries. She is _truly _the love of Hinata's life.

It is a warm, lazy afternoon and now she sits beneath the wisteria tree that grows in the private courtyard of the clan head's home. The aftermath of shifting hormones that takes place after pregnancy and birth has made her lethargic, and she finds her herself constantly sleepy. Eyelids drooping, she lays down in the grass, green and lush, Himawari on her chest, and she listens to how their two heartbeats pulse together.

This is true, she thinks.

_This is true._

* * *

><p><strong>Inconceivable<strong>

* * *

><p>Let it be known that Himawari is the apple of her grandfather's eye.<p>

Hiashi holds his granddaughter to the sunlight, watching as her chubby face shifts from smiles to confusion as he makes a show of shutting his eyes and opening them again. Peek-a-boo the game is called; once upon a time he played it with Hanabi and Hinata, and now he plays it with Himawari. However, he will never let another soul know that he even knows that such a game exists.

Let it also be known that Himwari is a fat baby.

Soon, Hiashi's arms begin to hurt from supporting her weight, and he tells her so as he is forced to lower his arms due to the strain. They are eye to eye, nose to nose.

"You, little one, eat far too much."

Himawari giggles and giggles, her little feet wiggling, her white eyes glinting, and her gummy mouth in a huge smile.

One month old.

Himawari is one month old whe she manages to accomplish the impossible and make the sternest man in Konoha, her grandfather, laugh.

Little does Hiashi know, Hinata stands in the doorway, arms folded as she watches the scene with a grin. It's at moments like these that the juinjutsu ceases to hurt. It's at moments like these she's eternally grateful to be alive.

* * *

><p><strong>Genetics<strong>

* * *

><p>Despite the obviousness of it all, no one within the compound comments on Himawari's heritage. In fact, they are rather kindly to the girl, petting her blonde hair and playing with her until she tires out. They call her the <em>odd Hyuuga <em>with no real bite and pass her from relative to relative to be cooed at.

_How pretty, _they say.

_This one will be strong, _they say.

Hinata considers this a blessing. She knows how the clan can be, she knows that they can be cruel and ostracizing, but she is pleasantly surprised to learn that being illegitimate has no influence as to whether or not you're accepted. Only weakness is frowned upon.

And apparently, being the daughter of the hokage, no matter how the concept came to be, means that Himawari will one day be a powerful Hyuuga.

* * *

><p><strong>Autumn Nights<strong>

* * *

><p>It may be presumptuous, but Hinata thinks that she is made for motherhood.<p>

Himawari is now a month and a half old and has begun to develop a rambunctious attitude that reminds Hinata so much of her daughter's father. The thought strikes her cold. He has yet to visit, yet to inquire about her whereabouts. It is as if he has forgotten her, and though she hides it well, the knowledge that she has been abandoned breaks her heart every second of every day.

But.

_But. _

She had picked this path. She knew what she was doing on that autumn night when they first kissed, ignoring that he had already taken vows to another. It was a moment of weakness. She was being selfish and he was being greedy. They both knew that nothing could come of it, because what would the world think of a hokage who would be willing to betray his wife? That a deceitful man would lead an equally deceitful country, that's what they would think.

Neither of them could bear to scar their home in that way.

It was a onetime mistake, he had said that night as he shrugged his shirt back over his head.

And she had agreed, had clutched the sheets to her chest and watched him go.

Except the mistake kept happening over and over and over again.

Always in the dead of night, in secret. Hot breaths against bare skin. Bruise marks on her thighs, scratches on his back.

Seasons passed. Their affair continued.

Until one day, Hinata realized she had missed her monthly.

The moment she was certain she told him – the night before his inauguration.

She didn't know what she had been expecting. Nothing, maybe. He would continue his life with Sakura-chan, but that had been all right. Hinata foolishly thought she could be content with just a part of him. What she didn't expect was the _end. _The end of everything they were.

Their daughter was the final page of their relationship.

* * *

><p><strong>Rain<strong>

* * *

><p>At least, she thought it was the final page of their relationship.<p>

- _but the pen continues to write – _

Rain falls on a humid August night.

Hinata wakes, half-knowing that somebody has their eyes on her. She doesn't react, every shinobi instinct in her body yelling at her to stay still. Slowly, imperceptibly, she reaches for the kunai resting beneath her pillow. Immediately, she feels for her daughter in the basinet beside her bed, and is relieved to find a small source of chakra. Steady, curling. Sleeping. Himawari. The only thing she can think about is protecting her daughter –

"Hinata."

The voice, an awfully familiar voice, sounds like an explosion in the quiet room.

For a moment she simply blinks and wonders if this is a dream. Perhaps she had imagined his voice in her desperation to see him once more. Her hand inches away from the kunai.

"Hina-chan," he says again, this time his voice cracks. "It's me, Naruto."

Unable to believe her ears, Hinata activates her Byakugan.

It's undeniable.

His chakra bursts about his body, as bright as the sun, a signature unique only to him.

He's really here.

Still dazed, Hinata sits up in bed with her back to him. With her Byakugan she is able to see the way his hands tremble. He had come through the window, which is left wide open – a sloppy mistake for any shinobi, let alone the _hokage. _Something must be wrong. Outside, the rain continues to fall, and he must've been caught up in it because he is drenched from head to toe. His hair is plastered to his face and water drips from his clothes and creates a puddle on the floor.

_Drip. _

_Drip. _

_Drip. _

It is the only sound in the room, building tension between the two of them.

His eyes glow eerily in the darkness. His face is blank, but she can that his heart is beating fast, adrenaline literally rushing through his veins. He's nervous.

What is wrong?

Hesitantly, she looks over her shoulder while simultaneously deactivating her dojutsu.

Their eyes meet – white versus blue. They swallow her in, and she's drowning, drowning in the bitterness she didn't know she felt, drowning in the love that still encompasses her. She doesn't know how to feel right now. Everything is dark but she just can't _think. _Here is the one and only man that she has ever loved and the thought of it warms her. Yet . . . yet he left her all alone.

He left her alone in the darkest time of her life.

When she needed him most.

Hinata has never been good at hiding her emotions and knows for fact that they must be flashing clearly on her face.

Suddenly, he emits a wave of anger so strong that it makes her falter. Hinata wants to shield herself as his eyes bore into her and she wonders what she did wrong. And then she sees that his gaze is on her forehead – at the brand carved into her skin.

Ah, she thinks. Of course he wouldn't know what she's given up in order to save their daughter. Of course.

Quickly, she brushes her bands back into place, hoping that it hides the seal, and is a bit embarrassed that he's seen her shame.

He seems to realize that he is glaring and quickly snaps back into the happy, light Naruto that she knows and loves. Well, not quite. She can still feel a sort of heaviness from him, one that is dark and sad.

_Enough of this, _Hinata thinks as she finally rises from the bed and crosses the room. He holds his breath as she does this, except he's not quite prepared when she reaches out and slaps him clear across the face. Hard enough that she's sure he can hear ringing in his ears. Hard enough that she's sure her palm will be tender for hours to come.

A petty vindication settles over her.

Yet in the same breath, before he can complain about the pain, she is embracing him. Holding him so near.

Because even though he left her, abandoned her, she still loves him.

_Loves him. _

Her arms wrap tighter.

He doesn't hold her back and for a moment she thinks the worst. He is frozen in place.

Just when she was sure he was disgusted with her, he bows his head and pulls her close. Crushing her practically. She has to stand on the tips of her toes and he has to crouch down to gather her flush against him. Naruto burrows his face into her hair, and his shoulders begin to shake.

Shake?

It takes her a moment to realize that he is crying . . . no, sobbing.

"I'm sorry," he says in a voice so beaten that it makes her heart break. His hot tears slick down her neck and Hinata finds herself crying as well. He presses himself to her desperately, holding onto her as though she is the only thing the world. All the while he repeats, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

The rain continues to fall outside.

* * *

><p>oooo<p>

* * *

><p><strong>EDITED: 114/2014**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: **I do hereby disclaim any rights or responsibilities to the Naruto universe. All that belongs to Masashi Kishimoto._

* * *

><p><strong>Red Thread<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Warmth. <em>

_Rain water. _

_Tears. _

_Naruto. _

They stand in each other's silence for what seems like hours. Hinata revels in the moment, knowing that this may be the very last that she holds him in her arms. Tomorrow, he may forget her just yet. Tomorrow, she may be just another comrade rather than the mother to his only child.

Tomorrow, she may just very well hate him.

_Is it possible? _She asks herself, _to really hate him? _Hinata pulls back from the embrace, from the comfort, and tilts her head up to look into his eyes. They are blue, and bright, and sad. He smiles sheepishly at her and attempts to blink the tears away, giving her the upbeat smile that she fell in love with so many years ago – a show of confidence that he doesn't feel.

"Heh," he chuckles as he rubs the back of his head. "Sorry 'bout that."

Yet he still cries.

_Naruto. _Always trying to put a happy front, always trying to smile through the pain. She asks herself again, _Is it possible to really hate him? _

Hinata replies with her own smile, but it is weak and trembling.

The red thread that connects them is fraying.

Her hand rises and begins to smooth over his shoulder, over the cloak designed to look exactly like his late fathers', up his neck, before finally coming to rest upon his cheek. His skin, despite being chilled by the rain, is still hot to the touch. Hinata swipes her thumb beneath his eyes, clearing away both the rainwater and the tears.

He leans into her touch and lets his eyes drift close.

She can literally feel all the worries leaving him, little by little as she cradles his face, sipping away all his troubles. They feel like two halves come together, she the yin and he the yang. Serenity and chaos. Moon and sun.

Nothing will ever change this.

Not red thread, or wives, or clans, or duty, or honor.

Nothing.

* * *

><p><strong>First Meetings<strong>

* * *

><p>The silence is broken by a quiet whimper and they both pull away from each other, startled out of their trance.<p>

Another whimper, tiny and familiar.

"Is . . . Is that . . ." Naruto begins, looking past her to the bassinet on the other side of the room. All of sudden he seems anxious. Hinata would laugh at the look on his face had it been any other person, but instead she nods gently before taking his hand in hers and leading him towards their daughter.

_Their daughter. _

The thought makes her giddy.

He follows easily.

She lets go of his hand just before they reach her bed, and walks forward without him. He stays put, unable to tear his eyes off the simple white-wood bassinet. Hinata smiles at him from over her shoulder, the tears now drying. It is time to be happy, she thinks. It is a time for joy.

"There is someone who has been waiting to meet you," says Hinata, her first words to him in months.

He nods, looking absolutely stricken as Hinata reaches into the bassinet. Her daughter, despite all her fussing, is still sound asleep. Himawari rubs tiny mitten-covered hands over her chubby face in the way that babies do, but does not stir as Hinata gently lifts her from her bed.

"Naruto," says Hinata as she carries her daughter to the still stunned man, "this is Himawari. Himawari, this is your father."

Mewling, Himawari fidgets in her mother's arm. Hinata looks up and isn't surprised to see Naruto near in tears yet again. Deep inside, she knew that he would cry at first looking upon her daughter. He doesn't disappoint as he shuffles near and crouches down to investigate the baby's face. Naturally, he begins to poke at their daughter's face.

"She's chubby," he says lamely, all the while sniffling.

"Ano, Naruto-kun, should that really be the first thing you say about your daughter," she admonishes teasingly.

Naruto doesn't reply, and instead begins to smooth his fingers over Himawari's blonde hair. "That's not easily explainable," he jokes. "Guess my genetics are pretty strong, eh?"

Hinata finds herself giggling even though her daughter's hair is proof of betrayal.

"Take her," offers Hinata, pushing Himawari softly into Naruto arms. He has no choice but to take the swaddled bundle, and the way he holds her is awkward and fretful. "Here, like this," says Hinata as she carefully repositions Naruto's hands into a more comfortable manner for both baby and father.

"Like this?" He says, looking up at her with a look of sheer fear in his eyes. "I don't want to hurt her."

"Don't worry," says Hinata, patting his hand gently. "You will never hurt her."

Naruto nods, a bit unsure, before gazing down into Himawari's sleeping face.

"Thank you, Hinata," he says after a long moment, in pure awe of their daughter. "Thank you for something so beautiful. Thank you for making me the father of this baby. Thank you so much."

He may not love her, Hinata thinks, but at least he loves their daughter. She knows this by the starry look in his eyes as he carries Himawari about the room, talking to their daughter in hushed tones about how she will one day accomplish great things, how amazing she is, how she will be better than he will ever be, and that he will protect her from everything bad in the world.

* * *

><p><strong>Father<strong>

* * *

><p>He loves her more than anything else in the world, he decides the second he sees her.<p>

Himawari.

Uzumaki Himawari.

Namikaze Himawari.

Hyuuga Himawari.

It doesn't matter. Her name doesn't matter. The shock of blonde hair on her head, so out of place with her aristocratically pale skin, is proof enough as to who her father is. He is. He is the father, the _dad_, of this little beauty, and honestly, it scares the shit out of him a bit.

Well, more than a bit.

He knows that he should be ashamed of his daughter, ashamed that she was created out of wedlock, that she is the evidence that he is a horrible man, but now all he wants is to let her know how much he loves her.

Uzumaki-Namikaze-Hyuuga Himawari. Her name will shift a thousand times in his life, in her life, she may rise, or she may fall. She may become The Great or The Disgrace. He just doesn't know, and the future stretches out before him, dark and scary as he looks into the face of his child.

His beautiful, _beautiful _little girl.

Everything is uncertain.

Hinata.

Sakura.

Being Hokage.

He doesn't know where the world will lead him, but there is one thing he is sure of.

He has never loved anyone as much as Himawari.

* * *

><p><strong>Deny<strong>

* * *

><p>Naruto rounds about the room until he is standing directly before Hinata. At first, she thinks he is going to tell her thank you again, but he suddenly leans down to kiss her, Himawari still in hand.<p>

For some reason, Hinata turns her head at the last moment so that he catches her cheek instead. When she glances back at him, there is a shocked look on his face, but also understanding. This, whatever it was between them needed to end, Hinata decided the moment she gave birth to her daughter.

And as much as she loves him, she would no longer be leaving it up to him to decide her fate.

"I am sorry," says Hinata softly as he pulls away.

Unexpectedly, he smiles at her. "Don't be, Hinata-chan."

Outside the sky begins to lighten, and he stares out the window. "I should get going," he says reluctantly. "I gotta bunch of hokage stuff waiting for me. Now I know why Tsunade-baachan drank so much."

He gingerly gives Himawari to her, as though not wanting to let go, his eyes never leaving their daughter's face.

"Bye kid," he says with absolute reverence as he leans down and kisses Himawari on the forehead. "You'll see your old man later, promise." Even though the words are directed towards Himawari, he looks Hinata straight in the eyes. _Promise, _he had said.

He promises to be there.

Hinata's heart leaps.

However, soon enough he is at the window, ready to launch himself back into a life without a mistress and a bastard child. Despite his declaration, Hinata finds herself unsure.

She doesn't know when she'll see him again.

She doesn't know if this was a whim, or if he really means to be in their daughter's life.

He has hurt her so much in these past few months.

Anger wells in her once more, but she quells it.

And she asks herself again –

_Is it really possible to hate him? _

It is a question that hasn't left her alone for the entirety of the visit, and on the behalf of her daughter, she breaks the silence.

"Why did you come?"

Naruto leans out the window, his face catching the first rays of sunshine. It seems the rain clouds have finally begun to clear. He glances back at her and takes in her thin night-shift, her breasts that swell beneath the material. She feels his energy spike and become more . . . warm. Lust. Immediately, she crosses her free arm over her chest despite the fact that he has seen her in a more bare state many times before. Petulantly, she stares him straight in the eyes, demanding an answer.

"Ah, having my kid really made you bold, Hinata-chan," he jokes, rubbing at the back of his head.

Hinata doesn't think it's funny.

When she doesn't laugh, he becomes more somber.

"Sakura . . ." He begins, the words sounding hard for him to say. He won't meet her eyes. "Sakura had another miscarriage."

And like that he is gone.

Hinata stares at the space that he had been standing in for a few moments longer, hating herself as she did so. Hating herself for what she has done to her friend, Uzumaki Sakura.

This isn't right, she thinks.

This will never be right.

Her love comes with a hefty helping of guilt and self-loathing.

Her heart breaks for her friend, the friend that she and Naruto have betrayed time and time again.

She wants to cry, but then Himawari wakes and beats her to the punch. Her daughter's wails fill the room, and Hinata vaguely wonders as she comforts her baby if this is something that Sakura will ever be able to experience.

Will Sakura ever know the plush soft feeling of a baby in your arms? Of how their downy silk hair rubs gently against your cheek? Will she ever know that the strongest bond in the world will always be between mother and child, and what it is like to love a person so strongly that it makes you break?

Hinata doesn't know.

Only the heavens do.

She can only pray that despite her love for Naruto, that Sakura will one day know the joys of motherhood.

Hinata goes back to sleep in the dim early morning with a heavy heart, less for herself and more for the wife of her lover.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do hearby disclaim any rights and responsibilities to the Naruto Universe. All of that belongs to Masahi Kishimoto.  
><strong>Note: <strong>There are no villains in this story. Only humans.

**IMPORTANT: **The song in "Through the Window" is the translation of _Madokara Mieru _by Corner Stone Cues. Please listen to it (preferably while reading) so that you get the full effect of the story~ I promise you won't be disappointed with it.

* * *

><p><strong>Foreshadow<strong>

* * *

><p>Uzumaki Sakura has night terrors – some bad, some horrible.<p>

She dreams of the Fourth Great War. She dreams of the air being so thick with the copper scent of blood that it's suffocating. She dreams of how the red sky was, of the horde of scavenger birds circling over, of endless mounds of bodies. Bodies of people she couldn't save.

Could never save.

Useless.

_Useless. _

_**UselessUselessUseless. **_

A War-torn wasteland stretches out before her, reminding her of just how insignificant she is. Everything is red here. Everything is dead here. _Please, _she begs, but unsure for what. Salvation? Strength? She doesn't know, yet the need for something, for anything, pulses beneath her skin.

Bubbles of rage, hopelessness, and insanity all press against her rib cage until it's hard to breath. And soon enough she is suffocating.

_Get up. _

_Help them. _

But she can't. She never could.

Abruptly, the battlefield disappear beneath a flood of bright light.

.

.

"Wakey, wakey, forehead! Rise and shine ~"

Vaguely, Sakura registers that someone is pulling all the curtains open.

"_No!" _She groans, burying her head beneath her pillow. Soon enough, that too is pulled away, and Sakura groggily opens her eyes and comes face to face with her best friend (who simultaneously manages to be the biggest pain in her ass).

"Wow, you look like shit," Ino says with a low whistle. She is leaning over the bed, smiling at Sakura as though she hasn't done a damn thing wrong. It takes everything in her power not to punch Ino in her perfect little face. "Time to face the day, _Lady _Hokage."

Lady Hokage.

Sakura hates the title. It's a bit too pompous for her liking.

"Speaking of Hokages," Ino continues, giving Sakura a bit of space to rise from the bed like a vengeful spirit, "where's that dumbass husband of yours?"

"Don't call him that," grumbles Sakura, but nonetheless glances to his side of the bed. It is empty, and the sheets are still perfectly made. She frowns. Lately, she's been going to bed before he returns from the office, but this is the first time he hasn't been here to greet her in the morning.

Weird.

Sakura doesn't have time to contemplate it further when Ino smacks her upside the head with a pillow.

"I _said _get up, dammit!"

"Ugh, Ino! I'm going to kill you, you dumb pig!"

She's halfway down the stairs, chasing a cackling Ino, by the time she forgets to worry about her husband never coming home last night.

* * *

><p><strong>Body Issues<br>**

* * *

><p>"Well, aren't you hungry," chides Hinata softly as her daughter suckles enthusiastically at her breast.<p>

A content silence settles over her bedroom, occasionally punctuated by the sounds of Himawari nursing. Sunlight filters through the curtains, and warm, fresh breezes waft through the open windows. Today was meant to be a particularly lazy one. Hinata takes advantage of this rare break and spends the morning in bed with a novel in one hand and Himawari in the other.

All she wears is a loosely tied white robe, because even the former Hyuuga Heiress cannot bothered to put on real clothes sometimes. However, she finds herself regretting the decision each time she glances down at her body. Her exposed breasts are veiny and full, now so heavy with milk that it hurts her back at times. Naturally, Hinata has avoided looking in the mirror as of late.

It can't be that bad, she thinks, unable to take her eyes of the expanse of pale skin that peeks beneath the fold of her robe.

With a sigh, she sets down her novel and fully parts the robe.

It isn't a pretty sight.

Hinata has never been the thinnest girl. Genetics had ensured that she was a a bit more endowed than the rest of her peers with wide hips and well-developed breasts - traits that she had tried very hard to hide. The attention used to make her so uncomfortable that she would wrap her chest so tightly that she couldn't breathe. Now, though, pregnancy has made her breasts swell to the point that they seem to rival Tsunade-sama's in size.

She's unsure as to how to feel about it all.

"Jaa . . . Himawari . . look at the stretch marks you gave mama," says Hinata finally, tracing the lines that run down the sides of her no longer flat belly.

Himawari detaches from the teat long enough to giggle.

The tinkling laugh is enough to erase all the doubt from her mind.

"I suppose it is rather funny," replies Hinata with her own laugh, tapping her daughter's button of a nose. "I guess it is a small price to pay, ne?"

Hinata feels strangely proud of the newest additions to her body. To her, it means that she bore the hardest pain to bring the sweetest gift.

* * *

><p><strong>Through the Window<strong>

* * *

><p>Nearly eleven years have passed since he left her world, but not a day goes by that she doesn't think of him. Her guardian, once her greatest enemy, and later her greatest friend.<p>

The sun sets as Hinata meanders down a dirt path, past juniper trees, past Branch Hyuuga women taking advantage of the last hour of light by airing their laundry out in their yards. Hinata says nothing, but of course she smiles politely, bows, and a variety of other niceties. The women let her pass without much fuss, but only because they know that her head is somewhere else completely.

Today is the anniversary of the end of the Fourth Great War.

Hinata celebrates it by going to the Hyuuga cemetery, a bouquet of pale plum blossoms in hand.

By tradition, Hyuuga headstones are plain and white, decorated only with the engraving of the deceased's name. There is no distinction between Main and Branch here simply because they are all equal in death. Thin marble markers flank her at all sides, and for a moment she feels lost.

It is not secret that out of all the Hyuuga, it was the former heiress who witnessed the greatest tragedies.

Sometimes it is hard to forget.

Sometimes she still wakes up in the middle of night, gasping, crying, and imagining that his blood is still warm against her face.

Dead.

Death.

Death all around her.

Suddenly, she's back on the battlefield.

Suddenly, he's staring in her eyes as the life leaves his own.

Flashes.

The world is falling away from her.

It is all snapshots that she will never be able to make sense of, that she doesn't _want _to make sense of. Pain. Blood. Desperation. It all crowds in, red and dire and red once again.

A crow's cry pierces the air and Hinata is dragged back to reality.

She blinks once, twice, standing before the very grave she was searching for. Without meaning to, she has found herself directly before his tomb, her feet having moved on their own while she was entrenched within her memories.

_Hyuuga Neji, _it says simply in carved characters.

Seeing his name is all it takes to dispel the knot of anxiety from her.

Bright green grass springs up all around it the marker and Hinata briefly wonders if Neji would've liked being buried. Perhaps, she thinks, he would've rather be cremated, rather have his ashes blown to the wind, rather that he be free to the world than bound to a box.

Perhaps.

"Hello, Neji-niisan," Hinata bows. "It's been a long time."

She settles down before the stone, quiet and waiting, and hopes to feel something. Feel anything. Sitting like this helps her pretend that she's kneeling before Neji, and that it's like old times again. It's like they're sitting down for tea, and she is pouring him a drink, and he's trying hard not to smile over something silly she's said.

When she thinks of times like those -

_"Nii-san, please stop laughing! It's embarrassing!"_

_"Ja, I will stop laughing when you stop being embarrassing, Hinata-sama."_

- it's almost easy to forget that he's dead.

Hinata pushes it all away, the sadness, the anger, the hurt, everything. Instead, she begins to carefully arrange the flowers before his grave. It's the very least she can do, she thinks, as she sings his favorite song – a lullaby passed down from his mother – quietly.

"Through the window I see  
>on the plum tree<br>one blossom, one blossom worth  
>of warmth."<p>

Neji, always stern and quiet, had surprisingly been a good singer. They had been three and four when he taught her the song, childishly playing beside the koi pond. His mother, a branch seamstress had taught him the words, and it was the only thing she left him before she passed. A song. A simple song that Hinata would always find him singing beneath his breath when he thought nobody was listening.

"Through the window I see  
>a view of greenery<br>a wild cuckoo  
>the first bonito."<p>

Just like the song was the only thing his mother had left him, it was the only thing he had left Hinata. A secret that only the two of them knew.

His song.

His need to look out into the world through the window.

His need to be free.

Pearls of their memories, strung together until it was something beautiful, unbreakable.

"Through the window I see  
>the autumn wind<br>resounds in the mountain—  
>temple bell."<p>

Hinata sung his song to Himawari each night, hoping each lyric would imbue a piece of Neji's spirit into her daughter.

"how much longer  
>is my life?<br>A brief night."

She remembered their last conversation:

_They watched the stars. _

"_Hinata-sama, one day I will die. Perhaps soon." _

"_I may as well, Neji-niisan. I may as well," she replied, looking into his eyes. They were deep in the trenches, leaning against the high walls of dirt that kept them somewhat safe from the hell that Madara's army rained down upon their troops. It was quiet, eerily so, yet the fighting hadn't ceased. Would it ever cease? Cries sounded in the far off distance, reminding them of their mortality. _

_The first night of the war was the hardest. _

"_No, you won't," he said adamantly, as though his words would make it so. _

_Hinata only smiled tiredly at him. "I may." _

_His bright eyes glinted in the moonlight. _

_He smiled back, a rare smile that he only afforded to her. "Not while I am alive, Hinata-sama." _

And the next day he was dead, staring her in the eyes, keeping true to his vow.

_Not while I am alive. _

"Through the window I see  
>all I can think of<br>is being sick in bed  
>and snowbound."<p>

_Is he free now? _She thinks, praying and wishing that he is.

"Through the window I see  
>this lone iris<br>white  
>in spring twilight."<p>

She finishes the song, her voice warbling slightly. Hinata swallows her tears knowing that Neji would've not liked her crying at his grave.

Hinata finally finishes placing the blossoms upon his grave, having taken her sweet time. The sun sets behind her, coloring the white graves in shades of orange and pink.

"I wish you were here," says Hinata quietly as she wraps her arms around herself.

Of course there is no reply. All she hears is the wind rustling the trees and the birds chirping. She glances at the grave once more with longing. Then, without further ado, she turns and leaves, wanting to get back to Himawari as quickly as possible so as to alleviate some of the heaviness in her heart.

What she doesn't hear, however, is the whisper upon the air, light and feathery at her back. What she doesn't hear is the promise that echoes from the spirit world into the physical realm:

_I will always be here, Hinata-sama._


	5. Chapter 5

**A Little at a Time**

* * *

><p>"Oh, wow, look at you go!"<p>

Hanabi squats down on the floor, cheering on her niece as she crawls across the carpet. At the end of the room there is a little white flag that's supposed to be a finish line, but Himawari is only five months old and doesn't understand the meaning of winning. So she just crawls and crawls, mostly in the wrong direction. Hanabi laughs and attempts to correct this by picking the baby up mid-crawl, her little arms and legs still moving, and re-positioning her so that she's facing the right way.

It doesn't work.

Sooner than later, Hanabi gives up and just gives Himawari a snack for a job well done.

Hinata, watching from her rocking chair across the room, hypothesizes that this is why her daughter is such a chubby baby.

* * *

><p><strong>Interruption<strong>

* * *

><p>Too much.<p>

Way too damn much.

Mountains of paperwork - nearly to his freaking shoulder in height - cover just about every inch of his desk in haphazard rows. Slumping in his chair, Naruto stares at it all with disbelief (and perhaps barely subdued hysteria).

Two days, he had only been gone for _two freaking days_.

_I wouldn't wish this on anyone . . . _he thought, grimacing, now regretting even coming into work today. Not that being Hokage was an occupation that you could just up and take a vacation from. He loved his position, promise, but _damn_, it was hard. All his life he had been a shinobi, fighting in the field, and for some reason he had always thought being hokage was pretty much fighting epic battles. Not once did it ever cross his mind that 95% of his job would be doing paperwork.

But still, two days was too little of time for this much shit to be comin' in.

He had decided to take the weekend off. Publicly, the reason was that he had gotten some sort of stomach bug. _From bad milk, _he told his secretary, going into gruesome detail of what it was doing to his body that it had made her too squeamish to nag him like she usually did. Privately, it was different story.

Privately, he had been spending time with Sakura in what she called "renewing their passion for each other".

It sounded nice, but what it really was was a weekend of non-stop sex. **  
><strong>

Very nice non-stop sex.

But . . .

_It wasn't worth it, _he thinks bitterly as he snatches the top sheet off the nearest pile. It's a budget approval, _boring, _that was asking for his signature on a shipment of 10,000 kunai from Suna to Konoha. Naruto reads the entire thing with his brows furrowed, even scans the fine print at the very bottom before he sighs.

_I want to see Hina-chan and the baby, _he thinks absent-mindedly. It'd been at least a week since he's had a chance to stop by, and the longer he goes without seeing his daughter the more antsy he becomes. It's weird feeling, and he is unable to really determine why he feels the way he does no matter how much he meditates on it.

Even during the whole weekend with Sakura, all he could think of was getting to Hyuuga compound.

_I'm horrible, _he thinks, really feeling the guilt churn in his stomach.

He sighs again.

"These better be damn good kunais," he grumbles, now thoroughly in a bad mood.

Before he even has a chance to lay pen to paper, there is a loud bang just outside in the lobby. Soon enough, there is muffled yelling -

"Hey! You can't go in there!"

- and Naruto barely has a second to blink before the doors to his office are kicked wide open.

Uchiha Sasuka stands in the threshold, emitting a cold wave of anger, and staring Naruto down with the filthiest look that he could possibly muster. Behind Sasuke was Naruto's secretary, Moegi, shouting up a storm.

"What the hell! Are you gonna fix that door, buddy! I hope you are, because lemme tell you . . ."

Sasuke doesn't even pay her any attention as he steps into the office and shuts the door with a slow and terrifying deliberateness. Moegi's shouting becomes muffled. Sasuke locks the latches on the doors, not saying a word, and Naruto feels as though he is watching steel wires just before they snap beneath their load.

"Hey to you, too, asshole," says Naruto somewhat cautiously. Against his better judgment, he does not reach for the kunai taped beneath his desk. "What's got your panties in a twist?"

No reply.

Instead, Sasuke stalks across the room, not unlike a tiger hunting for prey, until he stands before Naruto's desk. And then, in a near whisper, Sasuke says:

"Are you the father of Hyuuga Hinata's kid?"

There are only three things Naruto thinks in the following moment.

One, how the hell does Sasuke even know about Himawari?

Two, shit.

Three, _fucking shit. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Good**

* * *

><p>Uzumaki Naruto is supposed to be the epitome of goodness. He is sunshine, and happiness, and honor. He is everything Sasuke can't be. Naruto - his friend, his brother - is the shining beacon the world needs to guide them through the dark. And there is so much darkness in this world, Sasuke knows this by personal experiences, waiting to swallow them whole again.<p>

And so long ago, Sasuke decided that his goal in life was to protect the hope that was Naruto.

Naruto is what the world needs to be good, and Sasuke _needs _the world to be good, not just for his sake, but to honor Itachi's dream . . .

And the second Sasuke had accidentally stumbled upon that little blonde Hyuuga clinging to it's mother, he knew that that dream was on the verge of being destroyed.

* * *

><p><strong>Stroll<strong>

* * *

><p>Three hours earlier, Sasuke had been taking a walk about Konoha, doing absolutely nothing to alleviate his bastard image as he scowled at everyone who passed him. There was no reason for this walk. He was just bored.<p>

He was always bored nowadays.

One thing he could say about his avenger days - they were never boring. Sure, he was a little bat-shit crazy, but at least he hadn't been fucking stir-crazy. Konoha during peace times was filled with people who smiled a bit too wide, an over-abundance of sickening joy, and, of course, a distinct lack of well-trained shinobi.

After the war at handed, it seemed only natural that everyone who had fought to reign back from taking missions for a while. Many took temporary leave. Soon enough, those temporary leaves became permanent, and in the span of three years, Konoha had lost half of its shinobi force to a pure lack of will to keep fighting.

Sasuke didn't blame them. Nobody wants to fight forever. Still, it made his life that much more to dull. The only other shinobi beside Naruto who was a match for Sasuke in this damn place had been Kakashi, who had unfortunately gone on to have a sickeningly happy and content life as an Academy teacher alongside Iruka-sensei.

Bastard.

And all this left Sasuke with absolutely nothing to do but watch the sky turn from dark to blue.

Peace is overrated, brother, thought Sasuke.

When he zones back into the world, he realizes that he is in the forest just behind the Hyuuga compound. The sun is just beginning to set, and thick clouds hang low in the sky, nearly gold with the fading light. Sasuke barely has any time to think about just how much he should _not _be in these parts (the Hyuuga would not take kindly to him in their territory . . . though he really didn't give much of a damn if he were being honest).

But still, he didn't need the trouble.

He was still on probation, after all, and the last thing he needed was for Naruto or Sakura to be nag the hell out of him again.

Just as he turned to leave he heard the cry of a baby.

He saw this as an even better reason to leave. He'd been put off by the idea of children ever since Tsunade coerced him into signing a contract stating that he must impregnate at least three women within ten years time in order to continue the Uchiha line . . . or be executed.

There was a whole damn list of potential mothers and everything.

Sasuke still had five years to do said impregnating, but he was holding out until the last second, because, damn, the whole entire thing was fucked up. Everytime he saw a child he immediately thought of the contract and became somewhat nauseous.

What stops him is:

"Hinata, don't worry, no one is out here."

"But, Hanabi, you . . . you know that I'm not supposed to be out here. It's forbidden."

"Bah! You've been cooped up inside for _months, _and what the council doesn't know won't hurt them, ne?"

Suddenly, breaking into sight, on the other side of a thin line of trees, two Hyuuga women appear, completely oblivious to Sasuke. He stands still, hands still in pocket, watching as Hinata and another Hyuuga girl tip-toe through the forest. They're both wearing plain gray yukatas, and look nearly identical with their dark waist-length hair and white eyes.

Hyuuga are monochrome, he thinks distantly.

Which is why his eye is immediately drawn to the blonde bundle tied to Hinata's back. The child sticks out like a sore thumb with its yellow hair, gleaming like the sun. And immediately, without even thinking anything, Sasuke _knows. _It is such a sudden realization that it sets him back on his heels and stands hair on end.

Even so young, the baby looks like _him. _

Even so young, the baby will be the undoing of this land.

Hyuuga Hinata has borne Naruto a bastard child.

* * *

><p><strong>Thoughts<strong>

* * *

><p>Before another word was said by either Hyuuga, Sasuke had disappeared and reappeared miles away. It wasn't running, away, no. It was simply . . . collecting his thoughts. Sasuke took in pride in being completely unphased by most things, but this . . . this shocked him. Shocked him so badly that he had no idea what to do with this information.<p>

Naruto, you bastard, he thought with no real bite as he paced atop a roof of an apartment complex. You _stupid_ bastard.

If this were to be found out, then Naruto would lose his credibility as a leader. How could the people trust a man to keep an oath to protect them when he couldn't even keep an oath to stay faithful?

And Sakura?

If she were to ever find out then Naruto wouldn't have to worry about watching everything they worked for going down the drain. At that point, he'd be long dead. Strangled, perhaps. Or castration, knowing Sakura.

Mind made up, Sasuke headed towards the Hokage Tower.

* * *

><p><strong>Discussion<strong>

* * *

><p>Three hours later, after much "discussion", the two of them were splayed out across the floor of the Hokage's office, both bloody and bruised. Naruto's arm hung awkwardly at his side, and Sasuke was absolutely sure that he had lost a couple of teeth.<p>

"Leave her," Sasuke had seethed at the beginning.

Naruto had met his eyes, and in a quiet, guilty voice, said, "No."

And that's when they had fought, because in the end that was the path they always took to solve their disputes. So now they lay, panting on the ground. The walls are scorched from where the chidori had touched them, and the hokage's desk is split in two. Nothing is in it's original position, not even the secretary, Moegi, who had ran the second the brawling began.

It was just the two of them, breathing in and out, the air charged with tension and smoke.

"All right," Naruto says. He doesn't sound happy about this decision. Not happy one bit.

Sasuke is almost shocked to hear it. He turns to Naruto and replies. "All right, then."

That's the thing about Naruto, thinks Sasuke as he finally limps away from the building, clutching at his broken ribs. The man will do whatever is good for Konoha. Even if that means giving up everything he's ever wanted. And he wanted her - Hinata, the child - he wanted them so bad.

But Naruto wants Konoha to be safe more than he wants his small, illegitimate family.

* * *

><p><strong>Comfort<strong>

* * *

><p>Crying is not a thing that Hyuuga do. They are not made for it.<p>

They must be steel. Even their weakest must remain upright. No, it is not for the Hyuuga to bow when they are weak.

Perhaps this is why Hinata does not leave her room for more than a week, Hanabi thinks worriedly. Hinata does not say what is wrong, she _never _says what is wrong, but Hanabi knows with a sister's instinct that it has something to do with Naruto. Hanabi, as brash as she is (far brasher than her clan prefers) does not ask her sister what is the matter.

There's nothing to say.

Hanabi is good at many things, but comforting someone is not one of them.

One night, Hanabi is making her rounds about the Hyuuga Head's manor. They're not assigned rounds, but rather she is a cautious girl, even moreso with the arrival of Himawari, and wants to ensure nothing ever happens to her niece as it once did with her sister and the Cloud. She passes Hinata's room and tries to pass by quickly because she does not want her sister to think she is intruding, but a soft voice wafts into the air, stopping her.

"Hanabi?"

Hanabi turns and sees her sister's shoji door slide open. In the dim blue light, Hinata looks horrible. There are circles beneath her eyes, which are bloodshot, and she seems to be barely withholding herself from hysteria. "Sister," says Hinata pleadingly.

In a second, Hanabi is in her sister's room, holding her as Hinata cries harder than she's ever cried before. Himawari sleeps fitfully in a crib beside her bed, unaware to the darkness that is growing in her mother's heart.

"He said he doesn't want me anymore," Hinata chokes out between sobs.

Hanabi holds her tighter, as tight as she could, hoping to squeeze the pain out of her. "Let's leave," says Hanabi finally. "Let's leave, just for a while. Until it no longer hurts . . ."

"It'll never stop _hurting," _protests Hinata.

Hanabi says again, this time more resolutely, "Let's just _leave."_

* * *

><p><strong>Sands<strong>

* * *

><p>On the morning she is to leave for Suna, Hinata remembers:<p>

"_I . . . can't do this anymore, Hinata," Naruto had said, refusing to look at her. _

_They stood in the dark shade of her room, like always, a stretch of misery between them. Himawari fussed in her crib, somehow able to pick up the disaster the encroaching onto her mother's life. Hinata will later remember the next few moments in snapshots - that he smelled like pine and oranges, that strands of her hair kept falling into her face, and that particles of dust filtered through the moon-lit air. _

_It was suffocating. All of it. She couldn't breathe. She didn't dare. _

_A thousand questions had come to her - how could he do this? __**Why **__would he do this? And all she could utter was, "You made me a promise." _

_Her voice was hard-edged, almost as if a stranger were speaking. It may as well have been. Hinata felt disconnected from all of this. This was happening to another person. _

"_Hinata . . . I'm sorry," he said, taking a step towards her. _

_She stepped back, hands wrapped around herself. "You made a promise," she repeated. "Your nindo is that you __**never **__go back on your word." _

_He seemed taken aback by that, hurt even, but she didn't let him speak as she continued. _

"_You-you're a hypocrite, Naruto-kun." _

"_Hinata, I-"_

_"Please leave."_

The memory plays over and over in her head, and she tries to put the pieces together, tries to figure out why this happened. Tries to figure out how the red sands of Suna could possibly ease all this pain away.

She tells herself to stop crying because her baby needs her to be strong, but Hinata . . . Hinata feels as though her world is breaking, and all of it just makes her cry more. At the moment, she lays in bed, Himawari asleep against her chest.

Hinata listens for her babe's familiar heartbeat, as though listening to a prayer, hoping that each beat will remind her to keep moving forward.


	7. Chapter 7

**Struggle**

* * *

><p>Naruto remembers, no matter how much he doesn't want to.<p>

"_I can't do this anymore, Hinata," _he had said.

And he really couldn't. Not to himself. Not to Hinata. Not to Sakura. It wasn't fair to any of them. The more he slipped into this . . . he couldn't even bring himself to call it what it was. An affair? Cheating? Shit, he didn't know. Label or not, it wasn't good.

He watched her smile – that beautiful smile – crumble as she processed his words. It was like watching petals being plucked from a flower. There she stood, colored in muted shades by the moonlight that filtered through the curtains, unable to anchor herself. His fists clenched at his sides and he told himself _do not reach out to her. _

_**Do not. **_

Damn.

He was going to lose her.

But Sakura –

_But Hinata – _

_But __**Himawari- **_

It dawned on him like a sunrise. _She _dawned on him.

The way her hair fell, how her eyes shone with unshed tears, the soft creases in her face from smiling so often. He stared hard at her, taking in every single detail.

He couldn't do this.

He wouldn't do this.

But he wanted to kiss her so badly it hurt.

Why couldn't he just have this one thing? Was it really so bad? For years, he had done for everyone else, and all he wanted was to do for himself. He wanted to do for Hinataand their daughter. And selfishly, so fucking selfishly, He. Just. Wanted. Her.

Forever and entirely.

Absolutely.

_I don't mean it_, he wanted to say. _Please don't leave. _

But before he had a chance, he heard her utter, "You made a promise."

It sounded like an explosion in the room, except there was no fire in her voice. It was sharp. Bitter and cold. So . . . unlike Hinata that it took him aback for a moment. Despite her voice, she looked like a fragile little bunny that had been struck by an arrow. Her eyes were full with hurt and confusion, and the way she unabashedly stared at him was something that he would never forget.

"Hinata . . . I'm sorry," he said as he took a step towards her.

She stepped away from him. "You made a promise," she repeated, this time with more conviction. "Your nindo is that you **never **go back on your word."

It struck him hard.

His stomach dropped, and the arm that he had reached out to her faltered. He wanted to rush forward and wrap her in his arms and hold her until she knew he was telling the truth. He wanted to tell her that he took it all back, that he was just being stupid and that asshole Sasuke put him up to it. He wanted to hold her down and kiss her, make love to her over and over until she forgot all that he said, and remembered only his name instead.

_I'm not going back on my word! _He wanted to yell, but couldn't find the words quick enough.

"You-you're a hypocrite, Naruto-kun," she whispered, seeming completely convinced by the idea. The words she didn't speak hung in the air. _You were supposed to take care of me. Of our daughter. _

Suddenly, a vision flashed before his eyes.

The crying Hinata in the moonlight quickly turned into a Hinata in a white wedding furisode, surrounded by sunflowers, eyes shining as she smiled up at him. He saw her tucking in their children and singing them lullabies until they drifted off to sleep. He saw the way she cradled his hand as they walked down the market square, ignoring the hateful looks. He saw them old, kneeling in their summer garden, laughing over something dumb he had said.

He saw their life together.

It left him breathless.

"Hinata, I -"

"Please leave."

This time, her voice sounded _hateful. _It shocked him. It hurt him. But he didn't want to go, but the way she looked at him had Naruto rethinking that decision. She wouldn't accept any apology from him now. With a resigned sigh, he nodded, and turned back to the window he had entered through.

Her eyes burned into his back. Angry. Betrayed.

I'll give her a week to cool down, he thought as he hopped off the window ledge and into the night. He'll give her a week, and only that. Surely she wouldn't hate him by them.

_Hinata, _he swore, _I will show you how much you mean to me._

* * *

><p><strong>Omission<strong>

* * *

><p>Naruto finds himself wandering down a single, dirt road. On one side is a high, rickety chain link fence, and on the other is a series of abandoned apartment complexes, too far gone after Pain's attack so many years ago. Gotta get around to fixing those, Naruto thought absently as he looked at one particularly decrepit complex.<p>

"Did you do it?"

Without turning away from the building, Naruto instinctively knows who stands in the middle of the road ahead of him.

"Yeah," Naruto says.

"Good, nice to know you're not as a stupid as you look."

Naruto laughs. "Fuck off, Sasuke."

It wasn't a lie. He did do what he promised Sasuke he would do. But that stupid prick didn't need to know that he other things planned. No, he was never gonna let Sasuke near Himawari and Hinata again, not if it meant losing them completely.

"Whatever, loser. Now let's go. Sakura's been annoying the hell out of me looking for you."

* * *

><p><strong>Interruption<strong>

* * *

><p>A sudden diplomatic conference with the daimyo puts him four days off of what he calls the Get Hinata Back schedule.<p>

For some stupid ass reason, the daimyo thought it pertinent to summon Naruto away from Konoha and to go over the budget for the village . . . but it turned out to just be a long, dragged out rant session for the daimyo to complain how shinobi were becoming more and more disobedient.

Blah, blah, blah.

But it quickly turns into something more serious.

"The non-shinobi villages are making demands," said the daimyo airily. "They won't be complacent forever."

"Then meet their demands," Naruto ground out, trying not to reveal how anxious this whole Civilian vs. Shinobi thing made him. Despite shinobi's abilities, civilians outnumbered them in droves. "What do their demands have to do with me? I can't do jack shit for them."

The Daimyo nods and steers away from the topic with one last remark: "One day, you will have to pay attention to them."

.

.

.

"Long-winded asshole," Naruto mutters as he exits the daimyo's palace for what seems like eternity, shrugging on his cloak as he passes two affronted looking guards. They look like they're about to chastise him on his language, but the don't-fuck-with-me glare he shoots them shuts them up immediately.

* * *

><p><strong>Welcome Party<strong>

* * *

><p>"Welcome back, Hokage-sama," says an Anbu guard when Naruto approaches Konoha's gates. The sun is setting by the time he arrives.<p>

"Hey," Naruto replies congenially enough, trying to disguise how antsy he feels. It's been too long. He doesn't stick around long after the initial processing. A simple "good job" here and there to the guards on duty. Small talk. Granny Tsunade said it was important to develop a repertoire with the population keep him grounded.

He's checked one last time to ensure he's not an imposter. He looks at the sky behind the attending Anbu's head, and worries by how quickly it is darkening. The clock on the nearby post says 8:45

Naruto's not good at math, actually he's really bad. So by the time he calculates how long it'll take to get to the Yamanaka Flower Shop before it closes, it's 8:46.

"All right, you're good to go Hokage-sama. Sorry 'bout that. Procedure, y'know-"

Before the guard can finish, Naruto flickers out of sight.

After all, he only has fourteen minutes.

* * *

><p><strong>Last Customer<strong>

* * *

><p>Ino sees his hair before she sees his face.<p>

She had been in the middle of locking down the interior when she caught the movement in the window-front from the corner of her eye. A yellow flash. She looks and is perturbed to see the Hokage racing across the rooftops, seemingly headed straight for her store.

Ino curses and starts locking up faster. There's no way in hell that she's going to let Naruto keep her from her date tonight – she was already behind schedule! No, no, no, _hell no- _

"Ino-_chaaaaannnn~~" _

Shit.

Now standing at the door, looking as pathetic as a kicked puppy, was the ridiculously overpowered leader of the world's strongest village. Ino was sure he wasn't even trying to look that way. It was just his stupid ass face. Still, she had priorities, and he was not one of them.

There was no way in hell that Naruto was getting in her store.

* * *

><p><strong>Favors<br>**

* * *

><p>"Heh, thanks Ino-chan!" Naruto cheers as Ino comes from the back room with an armful of sunflowers. She doesn't look happy, actually she looks downright pissed. "You're really great for this!"<p>

"Asshole," she hisses, shoving the flowers into a large wicker basket on the counter. "You _ordered _me to help you. Now I'm gonna have to explain to my husband that I'm late for our anniversary dinner because our shithead of a hokage immediately wanted an order of forty sunflowers - Do you know that these are out of season, Naruto! I just gave you what was supposed to last us the next three months!"

Naruto smiles guiltily at her as he rubs the back of his head. "Sorry, it's just . . . important y'know."

"Save it," Ino snaps. She ties a white bow around the handle of the basket as a finishing touch and all but hurls it at Naruto's face. "Nothing you say will make dealing with a hungry Akimichi any easier. Now get the hell out of my store."

Naruto catches the flowers effortlessly with a fox grin. He slaps a huge amount of bills onto the counter, and telling by the way her eyes widen, it's more than enough.

The anger is gone in an instant, and is replaced by awe. She grabs the bills tentatively, as though they're going to disappear at any moment. "This . . . this has gotta be five times more than what that basket is worth."

"Consider it as part of my apology for keeping you so late," Naruto laughs, though impatiently because there's somewhere else he has to be. "Buy that kid of yours – Tanpopo, right? - something nice, kay?"

And with that he turns, walks out into the night, and vanishes from sight.

* * *

><p><strong>Odd Choice<strong>

* * *

><p>Ino rolls her eyes in his wake.<p>

"Doesn't that idiot know that Sakura hates sunflowers?"

She looks down at the wad of bills in her hand, and frowns. Maybe she should feel a little more guilty about not warning him? Then she remembers that she's now thirty minutes late for her date, flips her hair irritably, and doesn't feel so bad anymore.

* * *

><p><strong>Gone<strong>

* * *

><p>It's 9:05 by the time Naruto hops over the Hyuuga Compound's southern wall.<p>

He would've gone earlier, but he had to wait for the sentries to change shifts, and even then, he had wait for the exact moment that he was in the Byakugan's blind spot. Security here was tight, which was understandable considering who these people were, but damn, couldn't they slip up at least once?

Was that too much to ask for?

Like a shadow, Naruto creeps through the compound, ducking and dodging, which is extensively difficult with the basket of flowers in his hands. Thinking back, it probably would've been a better idea to put them into a sealing scroll – but it felt less genuine. He wanted Hinata to know that he held these flowers as long as he could before passing them into her care. It felt like a metaphor – like passing his heart to hers . . . something like that.

Damn, he's nervous.

He feels like a little kid again. Heart beats fast and cheeks flush. The last time he felt like this was when . . . was when he proposed to Sakura . . .

Naruto wipes the memory away quickly before the guilt can hit him.

He hasn't seen his wife in five days, and maybe the first thing he should've done when he returned was tell his wife he was home and not buy flowers for his mistress, but then again, Naruto has never been good with impulse control.

Finally, after what seems like forever of sneaking around like a common criminal (he was the Hokage for fuck's sake) he arrives at Hinata's window sill. He rolls it up quietly, expertly, and slithers into the room.

Immediately, he knows something is wrong when Hinata doesn't greet him – _Good evening, Naruto-kun. _Nothing but straining silence meets his ears. Naruto is almost afraid to look up when he doesn't hear the gurgling of his precious baby girl. Scratch that, he was very much afraid.

When he does look up, he wishes he hadn't.

Nothing's there.

All the furniture is gone, the pictures that littered the walls are nowhere to be found.

For a second he thinks that he has the wrong room, but then he catches Hinata's scent (wisteria and river water) and is horrified to find that, no, this is the right room.

"Hinata?" He finds himself asking despite all the proof before him. His voice cracks and echoes in the empty room.

The basket of sunflowers fall from his hands and scatter across the floor.


	8. Chapter 8

**Realization**

* * *

><p>Naruto is frozen in that cold, silent, empty room. Nothing is left save the hard wood floors, paper walls, and the stark moonlight that paints it all white.<p>

A strong wind drifts through the window he had come through and pushes the sunflowers across the room. They scuttle across the floor until the reach the furthest, darkest corner of the room. Numbly he looks in their direction, feeling as though there is something he must see.

He finds that he was mistaken.

The room wasn't completely empty.

The sunflowers gather about a single piece of furniture: A white beech-wood bassinet.

It's like a daze as he wanders towards the crib. Suddenly, he's before it, reaching down a hand, hoping that despite what his eyes tell him, that his baby girl will still be there. That she'll be curled around the frog plush he bought her like she always did.

She isn't.

For the first time, Naruto realizes, _truly_ realizes, what his actions have cost him.

His hand touches the quilted bedding in the crib and digs in as he tries to anchor on something, anything, in this current of emotions. Screaming above it all - anger, sadness, fear, denial - there is desperation.

Desperation to find what is gone. No matter what.

He closes his eyes, breathes deeply, and when he opens them again they are red.

* * *

><p><strong>Progress<strong>

* * *

><p>Far, far away, beyond the gates of Konoha, over rolling hills and plains of belly high grass, standing before a river is Hinata. She sneezes. Once. Twice. On the third she wakes up Himawari who had been slumbering away on Hanabi's back.<p>

"Someone's talking about you, Hinata-sama," says Ko, their mandated guard for the endeavor (had their father had his way, there would be five more of them). As he speaks, Himawari begins to fuss.

Hanabi begins to gently bounce up and down to lull Himawari back to sleep, all the while glaring at Hinata. "Do you know how long it took to get her to sleep?"

Hinata raises her hands and smiles guiltily. "Sorry, Hanabi-chan," she says before ducking close to smooth Himawari's blonde hair down. "Ne, honey bee, go back to sleep before your auntie gets any grumpier, please."

They're in a forest deep in the Land of Rivers, and the moon filters through the canopy, dappling all in a kaleidoscope of silver. Himawari big eyes blink close as Hinata rubs the one spot on her daughter's back that always puts her back to sleep. The baby begins to snore quietly and it is tempered by the ambiance of the burbling river and chirping crickets.

"I'm not grumpy," Hanabi says in a tone that suggests otherwise.

Her reply is another small sneeze.

"Are you unwell, Hinata-sama?" asks Ko congenially as he crouches on the river bank. For the past five minutes or so, his byakugan has been activated as he searched for any threats in the woods, prompting them to take a small break before continuing their journey. "If so then we can find an inn for the night."

"No," she says with a small shake of her head. It is Hyuuga custom to travel through the night - created when their ancestors found travel to be difficult when so many coveted their eyes. In the dark they were safe, because they could see what their enemies could not. "I'm fine, Ko-kun. Please don't worry yourself with me."

As if to prove her competence, Hinata fishes out a small handkerchief from her pocket to dab her nose with. Just before it reaches her face she realizes that this handkerchief is a screaming, vibrant orange.

A gift.

Well, not really.

More like a loan that had never been returned.

Hinata stares out at the black-water river and finds herself thinking about the days past. About when she had just been seventeen, and battle-scarred, on her first mission since the Fourth Great Shinobi War had ended four months before. There had been three of them on this mission to Kumo to deliver a peace treaty to finalize a truce. Shikamaru, Naruto, and herself.

There hadn't been any huge battles on their way, no obstacles of any kind. And yet Hinata still managed to get herself hurt by catching a branch to the face while they raced back through the forests.

Naruto had appeared before her in an instant and pressed his ugly little handkerchief to the particularly nasty gash on her cheek. She'd flamed up so quickly that Shikamru had teased her about having a fever.

Naruto had smiled, heavens that smile, and said, "_Heh, that looks bad, but nothing I can't fix_."

"Sister," Hanabi says, bringing Hinata out of her reverie. "Ko says that the coast is clear . . . you seem distracted."

"Hm," Hinata hums, "I'm just thinking."

"About Naruto," Hanabi snarks.

"No," Hinata says quietly. She loosens the hand that grips the handkerchief and the wind lifts it from her palm and into the air. And off, off, off it goes, drifting aimlessly until it drifts to close to the river's surface and is swiped under by the black current. "Not anymore."

Hinata watches a moment longer and frowns. Tears collects at the corners of her eyes, but she quickly wipes them away. And then, with renewed determination, she turns back to her sister and smiles. "Okay, I'm ready."

* * *

><p><strong>Blame<strong>

* * *

><p>Sasuke squints hard in the darkness as a figure sprints across the rooftops. Really, he doesn't care all that much, but then he catches the silhouette of the Hokage's cloak against the dark sky.<p>

"What's that idiot up to?"

Less out of worry, and more out of wanting to be a complete ass, Sasuke flashes from his original place and finds himself running along Naruto. He's about to say something particularly infuriating when he sees that Naruto's eyes are a blazing red. A kyuubi red.

"Naruto . . ." he says lowly, barely audible over the wind that rushes past them as they run. Naruto looks at Sasuke from the corner of his eye. Angry. Determined. Hysterical? And Sasuke finds himself catching the sleeve of Naruto's sleeve and yanking him back. "What the hell's wrong-"

Sasuke is literally blindsided by the punch.

One moment, he had been standing and the next there was a fist barreling into his cheek. He was sent flying, crashing into the side of a building so hard that the concrete surface cracks beneath his weight.

Pain happens.

And then _fury_.

In the same instant he hits the wall, Sasuke is crawling out of it, Sharingan activated and hand reaching for Kusanagi, the need for a fight in every heavy breath he takes.

He's not that surprised to see Naruto standing a short distance away.

"Naruto . . . what. the. _fuck_."

Kusanagi is drawn and its tip drags against the roofing. Naruto isn't afraid. Farthest thing from it. His eyes flash red and the whiskers in his cheek are far more prominent. All of Sasuke's instincts scream at him to back down, but all his dignity refuses.

Still, his skin prickles and his hair stands on end from aura that Naruto is radiates.

"You bastard," Naruto growls. His voice sounds off. Feral. "She's gone. You made me make her leave."

Sasuke can't help himself. Blood trickles from the corner of his mouth. He smirks. "Good."

Naruto stills and then flickers out of sight. He appears right before Sasuke, taller, more menacing, barely a hair's breadth away. There is no room to breath because Naruto's anger is filling every space.

* * *

><p><strong>Expectations<strong>

* * *

><p>Three months. Three months along. It's the farthest she's ever gotten and she dares to hope.<p>

Stop, she tells herself, don't set your expectations too high. This can easily end in tragedy, she tells herself over and over again, but she can't stop that little bubble of joy in chest.

She's three months pregnant and why shouldn't she be happy?

She's wanted this so badly for so long.

They had first started trying the moment they were married four years ago. Naruto would talk about it all time - a little boy who looked like him, and a little girl who looked like her. They would be the perfect family, he said, smiling so wide that it looked like it would hurt on any person. But on Naruto . . . it looked right.

Except, that smile faltered when they lost their first baby.

"There's nothing you could have done about it," Tsunade would later pronounce, though they both suspected that it was overexertion that ended the already fragile life.

Naruto took it better than she did. Held her while she cried. Told her that it would all be it okay.

It wasn't exertion as they had first thought.

After she lost her second baby, they found that her body just couldn't hold a child. No amount of healing chakra would fix that.

Two years later and one more dead baby she thought she had been lost. That this wasn't the path for her. And she tried to convince herself that that ever distant look in Naruto's eye was because he was busy being hokage and not because she kept losing his children.

She needed this.

And so she begged Tsunade to help her. Pleaded. _It's too dangerous_, she had said, _carrying and bearing a child may very well kill you both_.

"_It's killing me now_!" she had yelled, tears in her eyes. What was left unsaid was - Naruto will leave if I don't have this child - no matter how imagined it was.

Tsunade had yielded.

Now, weeks later, after numerous healing sessions, she sat on the couch in their living room, smiling down at her stomach and imagining the bundle of cells forming there. Her child. Her and Naruto's child.

"S_hannaro!_" she cheers quietly to herself.

Her moment is ruined by a loud knock on the door. Sakura wonders who it could be at this time at night, but checks it regardless and is surprised to see her former sensei standing there, drowned in yellow porch light.

"Kaka-sensei," she says, not bothering to hide her irritation at being interrupted, "what are you doing here?"

Icha Icha Paradise hangs lazily from Kakashi's hand as he leans against the wall. "Sakura-chan . . . are you aware that your husband and Sasuke-kun are destroying the village as we speak?"

* * *

><p><strong>Vision<strong>

* * *

><p>They continue their trek until the forest fades into a purple moor. The moon was ghostly above them, once comforting now ominous as it makes their path a white ribbon winding through the landscape. It makes them all feel vulnerable to be so out in the clear, but they shrug it off.<p>

Hinata has taken her daughter back and has tied her to her chest, trying not to mind that Himawari has begun to drool all over clothes.

She takes note as Hanabi falls back with her, byakugan activated. "Doing all right?" She asks.

"As well as anybody, I suppose," Hinata says as she re-adjusts Himawari. Every day her baby is growing, and her weight is starting to become a bit of a burden. Soon she'll be walking and the thought startles Hinata. Time has passed by so quickly. Too quickly.

Just yesterday she was telling Naruto she was pregnant-

Stop that, she admonishes herself. Don't think about him.

"Ko said he spotted a group up ahead. Civilians," Hanabi reports, despite Ko standing an arm's length away. Hinata frowns and files away a memo to talk to Hanabi about her behavior towards the branch members. "There's a lot of them for this time at night."

"Meeting?" Hinata suggests.

"No," Ko cuts in, "they have weapons."

"What sort of weapons?"

Ko, who is apparently still looking at this fair away group, brows furrows as he narrows his eyes. "I'm not sure . . . they're unlike anything I've ever seen. The look . . ."

Hinata activates her byakugan for herself and the world stretches, blurring past land, trees, and sky until it reaches said group. _Group _was a severe understatement. This was an _army. _A thousand men at the very least, some of whom had weapons of some kind - cylindrical metal things that didn't look quite right.

She deactivated her byakugan and shook her head. "Those don't look very nice, perhaps we should-"

"No," Hanabi says. "Civilian business should remain civilian business. What they do with those weapons of theirs is none of our concern."

Hinata frowns, but finds that there is no point on arguing. "Of course, Hanabi-chan," she says before they continue on her way.


	9. Chapter 9

**Remember**

The room flooded with sunshine.

"I'm nervous," said Naruto, fussing with his ceremonial robes in the mirror.

"So?" replied Sasuke from his seat in the corner of the room. He watched as the idiot fixed his _hakama _for what had to be sixth time. Sasuke's own suit was a bit uncomfortable, but he honestly didn't care that much. If it were up to him he wouldn't even be attending this stupid wedding.

"Some best man you are," said Naruto after securing his _haori_. "Aren't you supposed to be comforting me or something?" They met eyes in the mirror: Naruto's worried, Sasuke's indifferent.

With a long-suffering sigh, Sasuke rose from his chair and crossed the room. Roughly, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's shoulders and forced him around. They were of equal height (which still unsettled Sasuke to this day), which made it that much harder to be intimidating.

"Repeat after me, dobe," Sasuke ground out. "I, Uzumaki Naruto, am marrying Haruno Sakura."

"But –"

"_**Repeat." **_

". . . I, Uzumaki Naruto, am marrying Haruno Sakura. . ."

"I have wanted this since I was a child."

"I have wanted this since I was a child."

"I love her and vice versa, and it is impossible to mess this up even if I tried."

It was apparently the right thing to say because Naruto's shoulder loosened and his fretful frown turned into a determined grin. "I love her and vice versa, and it is impossible to mess this up even if I tried."

"And now I will leave Sasuke alone because I may be dumb, but not dumb enough to keep pestering him."

"And now I will leave Sasuke alone . . . HEY!"

This is the memory that flashes through Sasuke's mind five years later as Naruto tries to kill him.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Still<strong>

* * *

><p>Sakura and Kakashi flicker onto a rooftop two blocks away from the fight. Well, fight was an understatement. It was more like a hurricane. An explosion. A war. Sakura's eyes went wide the second she saw the collision of Uchiha and Uzumaki – blue and red, blood and fury.<p>

She's only seen this once before – when they were children. Twelve years old and on the rooftop of the hospital. And just like then she immediately races to stop them.

Kakashi's hand is wrapped around her wrist the second she rushes forward. "Sakura," he says warningly, "you know there is nothing that you can do."

_Nothing I can do._

Still?

* * *

><p><span><strong>Unneeded Audience<strong>

Sasuke punches Naruto in the stomach so hard that the hokage doubles over. _Three broken ribs, _Sasuke theorizes, hopping away just as Naruto throws a chakra fueled fist at his face. He isn't far enough. Naruto's chakra, red and angry, slices Sasuke's cheek open and blood flies from the wound.

For a moment they're breathing hard. Naruto clutching his side, Sasuke palming his face in an attempt to staunch the blood. From his periphery he can see two people standing on a roof in the far distance: silver and pink. _Not good, _he thinks. _Not good at all. _

It became worse when he registers several chakra signatures heading their way not a second after Kakashi and Sakura appear. Shinobi. Probably Tsunade and an anbu entourage.

Questions will be asked, he thought bitterly. They would question why they were fighting in the street? What caused this? Questions that they _really _did not need to know the answer to.

There was no way that this fight could end before everyone else arrived. Naruto had a habit of speaking carelessly when he was angry and would no doubt reveal what Sasuke was trying so hard to keep secret.

So Sasuke makes a decision.

"It's funny," Sasuke rasps, looking the devil in eye, "your kid is probably going to grow up without ever knowing you exist."

He begins to run the second he finishes the sentence. He doesn't need to see Naruto's reaction, because he can feel it as his back as he retreats. A surge in chakra. Terrifyingly powerful. Sasuke's racing across the rooftops at the speed of light and is almost glad that Naruto took to the bait and chased after him.

_Almost. _Because if he was caught, the chances he made it out in one piece were slim to none.

_But it doesn't matter, does it? _Sasuke thinks as he jumps over the wall of Konoha, moving so quickly that the shinobi just now arriving on the scene have no chance of catching up. Naruto was hot on his heels and Sasuke didn't dare to look back.

_As long as everyone else doesn't know of his betrayals, that's all that matters._

* * *

><p><span><strong>Approach<strong>

"How long until sunrise?" Hanabi asks from the front of the group. The forest is starting to thin out, the soil becoming looser and the trees smaller and more prickly. They're nearing the point where the woods become desert.

Normally this isn't the route that one would take to Suna, but in light of the circumstances they chose a more discreet route.

Hinata activates her byakugan and looks out at the horizon. Dunes upon dunes lay to the north of them, and from her vantage she can see the sun just starting to peek up from the east.

"Thirty minutes," she reports, shifting Himawari on her hips.

"Then we'll make camp here."

Had it just been the three adults than they could've made the trek through the desert during the day, but it had been decided that Himawari could experience complications due to her being so young. Suna's desert has been known to kill the youth. Even now, Hinata had to wrap her daughter in light cloth to keep the arid wind from chapping her soft skin.

Hinata notices movement at the very fringe of her advanced vision. The army of men, the same from before, steadily inching their way forward. They still held those odd cylindrical objects that put her on on edge. They were closer than before, much closer.

"Hanabi, look," says Hinata.

Hanabi activates her own byakugan and looks south. Her mouth purses and her eyes narrow. "What are they up to?"

The men wear shoddy uniforms but they look disciplined as they march in straight, unwavering lines. In addition before were men in newer uniforms flanked the marching mass, riding beasts larger than Akamaru – Horses, she had heard civilians call them. None of them smile.

"They're heading straight in our direction," Ko points out. "I won't be long until they catch up."

"They're heading for Suna," Hinata says, a little bit in awe. The army was easily larger than what the United Shinobi Forces had been at the start of the Fourth Great Shinobi War. A mass like that at Gaara's door . . . "We have to warn them," she says after a long moment.

Hanabi looks at her sharply, and Hinata knows what she's already going to say. "I know," Hinata continues, "I will not risk my daughter either. You two go on ahead, Himawari and I will stay here until nightfall."

"But-" Ko begins to protest.

"My sister is unsealed heir of the Hyuuga clan," says Hinata softly, "it would be unwise for her to be left without a guard. And, I, Ko-san, would not be able to protect both my daughter and Hanabi-chan at once."

Ko, who is sealed, understands, but nods hesitantly. "Of course," he says.

Hanabi and Hinata share a look. Hanabi knows that Hinata's thoughts are sound, but she is still does not want to leave. "Are you sure," Hanabi questions, leaving room for Hinata to say, _no, please stay with me sister. _

But Hinata says no such things and smiles gently instead. "I'm sure. Himawari and I will stay clear out their way," she says resolutely.

There are no more words exchanged as they shuffle around supplies. Hanabi and Ko leave the heaviest things with Hinata as they plan to make the day long journey to Suna in under a couple of hours. All they carry with them are skins of water and soldier pills.

The army has picked up speed from just a few minutes ago and are now much closer than they were before. It's worrying. Hinata tries not to think about it as Hanabi and Ko set out to leave without her.

"Sister," says Hanabi quietly, "keep out of trouble, ne?"

Hinata nods, "Of course."

And with that, they're gone. Sprinting. A strenuous stretch before them.

She stands in the silence of the forest, listening to the bird songs and as the northern desert wind whistles through the trees. "Just us now, honey bee."

Himawari coos and gives a toothless smile back.

* * *

><p>ooo<p>

Thanks for reading,

_Goldking_

* * *

><p><strong>P.S: <strong>So I've been gone for a _long _time. Sorry. I moved to Tokyo in the time I've been gone and things have been hectic to say the least, but I've finally found my feet and have started writing again. If you also read _A Hundred Evils _expect an update soon.

Once again, sorry for being MIA.


	10. Chapter 10

Outrunning a jinchuruki is not an easy fear - a lesson that Sasuke has come to learn over the years.

_This is unfair, _he thinks for the umpteenth time while charging more chakra into his legs. _Keep moving, don't stop, _the snarling beast at his heels more than enough motivation. _Faster, **faster. **_He feels no fear only because there isn't enough time for it. His hammering heart beats out a single, dire message: survive.

_Duck, _instinct screams and he readily obeys. A millisecond after he feels air rush over his head. Naruto's powered fist smashes into the trunk of a tree instead, one so wide and grand that it had to be hundreds of years old. It only takes moment for it to crack beneath the Hokage's strength. Sasuke knows it is going to topple and instantly he's back on his feet, flickering through the forest. Behind him the tree creaks on its way down, and when it falls it shakes the woods like thunder.

Crows burst from their nests.

Deer skitter away.

Foolishly, he looks back.

He can barely make out Naruto's silhouette in the cloud of debris. Then, he sees it, a bright red gaze that pierces through all the dust and dirt to focus on him. His heart stutters. This time, there is enough room for fear. He blinks and Naruto is bursting out of the plume on all fours, snarling, and gaining at an impossible speed.

**ooo**

Naruto isn't aware of what's happening, barely cognizant that he's intent on murdering his best friend.

_You're out of control. _

**_I don't care. _**

The anger feels too good, and the part of him that is fighting against it is losing miserably. It's like drowning in tar, the more one struggles, the more they doom themselves. It's overtaking him, filling his lungs and dragging him _down, down, down. _He wants to hurt. To rip. Fury clots in his chest as he reaches for memories but find none.

_Why are you so angry? _

**_I don't know, I don't know. _**

He can't remember. Everything is muddled and nothing but shadows crowd around him.

Externally, Naruto is snarling at the traitor, moving only with pure animalistic instinct. Chase. Hunt. Kill.

Internally, he's screaming.

The traitor is in his reach now, barely an arm's length away and all Naruto has to do is simply lunge and the bastard will be _dead, dead, good and dead, destroyobliteratekill – _

It happens all happens slowly and too quickly at the same time. Naruto leaps. The traitor pivots, eyes alight, fist crackling with electricity.

**ooo**

Far away, Sakura's head snaps up.

"You okay?" Kakashi asks from beside her.

She nods shakily and doesn't tell him how dread is knotting in her stomach. Around her, ANBU begin to fan out in search of the rest of Team Seven.

**ooo**

Sasuke hadn't meant to do that.

It was instinct, an instinct he immediately regrets when Naruto sidesteps the punch, but not quickly enough. The Hokage defends with his forearm - and if this were a normal fight perhaps that would've worked. Even without the lightning, the force behind Sasuke's punch is enough to shatter a boulder, but Naruto is much stronger than any boulder, so the sheer inertia sends them both skidding across the clearing. Treads are left in the wake of Naruto's dragging feet.

They don't go far when Naruto digs his soles into the ground and begins to _push _back. Sasuke, exhausted and weary and wholeheartedly not wanting to do this, silently prays for Naruto to stop. That's when he hears the sickening **_crack. _**He glances down to see Naruto's arm bending beneath the punch. Just like the way a sturdy branch looks just before you snap it in half.

_Pull back, _his mind screams, but experience tells him that if he does then Naruto, not in his right mind, will go for the jugular if he does.

The internal debate wages on too long. Sasuke blinks, and suddenly the arm is gone.

He jumps back in an instant, chest heaving, heart racing, sharingan spinning. _No, no, no, no, _he thinks as he sizes up the situation. He's panicking, something he is not used to doing as he takes in the cloud of dust around Naruto.

The Hokage has yet to move, and only glares at Sasuke with eyes redder than his, completely uncaring of his missing right arm.

A powerful gust of wind clears the brume, and Sasuke praises whatever gods there were when it does. In place of what he expected to be the bloody remnants of Naruto's arm is nothing but the burned sleeves of his robe and a cauterized stump – a souvenir from their last battle at Valley of the End.

He never thought he would be so relieved to have blasted off his best friend's prosthetic arm.

**ooo**

Hinata awkwardly spins Himawari's carrier to her front. Said baby is happy for the change and coos up at her mother with chubby hands, prompting Hinata to nuzzle their noses together. "Hang on," she says and takes a steeling breath and sprints straight towards a tree. Chakra control has always been one of her strengths, so running up a tree is no feat, though she feels heavily winded from nearly a year without formal training. Her diaphragm aches. Air rushes past them and Himawari _wheeees _the entire way.

She is panting by the time she reaches the sparse canopy. "That was fun, ne?" she says breathlessly to Himawari who is giggling and flapping her arms. "Mama's really . . . _really _out of shape . . ."

She reactivates her Byakugan shortly after regaining her composure and zooms back in on the army. They're closer now, still marching in eerie, perfect unison. It unnerves her. Their numbers alone are a threat, but add in their frightening efficiency and odd technology . . .

She harrows in on one of the cylindrical objects but couldn't tell head nor tail of its mechanics. Obviously advanced. She knew little of the civilian world – the Hidden Villages always discouraged interaction between the two – but what she did know was that they seemed to be progressing at an amazing rate.

Himawari must sense her anxiousness because she began to fuss.

"Shh, shh, honey bee, let's stay quiet, ne?" Hinata bounces up and down in hopes that it would persuade her baby to comply. Even though there is no one around, she can't help but be cautious.

The technology, the way they move like a machine, these scare her . . . but not as much as the individual soldiers. Those men, though dirty and grimacing, have a look in their eyes that Hinata has seen many times before. The very same gleam she sees in the eyes of her enemies just as they strike the killing blow.

These men are out for blood, she thinks. Their faces are hard, determined.

They remind her of Sasuke.

Avengers.

Hinata clutches her baby just a little bit closer.

**ooo**

Naruto glances between his missing arm and the traitor.

_He took that from you, _a dark voice whispers.

_That's not the only thing he took from you._

He thinks of his lover's face. Not the vibrant spring-green eyes of his wife, but of the soft white gaze of his mistress. Not Sakura's laughing grin, but Hinata's demure smile.

_He drove her away._

**But was it really him?**

"Naruto-kun," he hears her voice, gentle and lilting voice in the darkness. A baby's faint cry joins her.

_"Hinata! Himawari!"_ He yells, relief filling him at just the sound of them. "Where are you! I'm coming to get you!"

He's so happy they're here, he's going to make it up to them, he swears. He's going to be the best father in the world and he'll make sure Himawari has all the best toys and Hinata is never sad –

"We're gone, Naruto-kun," Hinata says.

_Gone. Yeah, that's right. She left. Why are they gone?_

**You made them leave.**

"_No," _he mutters adamantly to himself. "I didn't do that, _he _did."

"Naruto-kun," she says again, sounding closer than before, "I did nothing but love you and you cast us aside. Me . . . our daughter . . ."

"No – _no_, that's not what happened," he finds himself saying, more desperation in his voice than he likes to hear.

"My baby. . . " she says, voice so sad and sweet that it breaks his heart. "Why didn't you want us, Naruto-kun?"

"I-I-" his body is thrumming with a fear he's never known. "I wanted you – I _need you . . . _It's . . . I . . .**_ I don't know!_**"

**ooo**

This is troubling Sasuke.

Naruto, who at one moment had been glaring at him, is currently doubled over, clawing at his hair and muttering to himself. This has gone on for a minute now, and every second that passes has his blood pressure rising. He considers approaching but -

**"_I don't know!"_**

Sasuke stumbles back when Naruto's chakra suddenly spikes. The power of it creates rushes of wind so powerful they move rocks and make the trees sway. Sasuke has to dig his feet in to keep from being blown away, and when that doesn't work, he stabs _kusanagi_ into the soil and kneels with it.

_"Naruto!"_ He yells, barely audible over the surge.

**ooo**

_A shinobi's chance of survival beyond 25 years of age: 49 percent. _This was one of the facts they drilled into their heads over and over again during her academy days. There they were, children, being told that more than half of their class would die in the next few years.

Hinata finds this to be a very sad statistic, but one that has kept her on her toes for years.

_49 percent, _she thinks as her eyes begin to strain. Her Byakugan has been activated for going on an hour now. Her records stands at seven hours straight, but that was when she was still a combative shinobi. She tests at her chakra reserves and find them sorely lacking from disuse.

There's no telling how long she'll last.

_It isn't your duty to survey them, _she thinks, even though the shinobi in her tells her the intel gathered on this group can help them later. Thankfully the army begins to slow, and then come to a complete stop. Moments later they're breaking lines and beginning to set up camp.

It is wise of them to not brave the desert during the daytime, but the longer they stay, the more Hinata feels obligated to watch them. Fatigue begins to tug at her. She hasn't slept since Konoha.

"All right," she says reluctantly, before fading further into the forest. The army will still be there after an hour nap, she decides as she finds a nest of branches sturdy enough to hold her, and thick enough with leaves to hide them.

Just as she drifts off, she remembers _49 percent._

_._

_._

_._

A tiger slinks near her. Bright eyes trained on her, but she can't move. It's so near now, growling. It slowly opens its mouth, revealing viciously sharp teeth. She can't breathe. She's terrified.

And it inhales deeply and _roars_.

.

.

.

Hinata startles awake, ears ringing and Himawari whimpering in her arms.

_What in the world? _She thinks, disoriented, wondering if she dreamed that roar or if she actually heard it -but her question is answered when another **_crack _**vibrates through the air. She jumps again, scrambles to her feet, and activates her byakugan.

Barely half a kilometer away is a group of soldiers. Twenty of them in a circle, cheering, pointing. In the center of the circle is a teenager, bruised and bloodied, kunai in hand, frantically brandishing it at whoever chants the loudest. He's spooked. One of the soldier point a cylinder at the man's feet and Hinata sees it _spark _before she hears yet another _crack _explode. The boy in the center crashes as he tries to scramble away.

He is so young with lanky limbs and freckles all over and hair that doesn't look like it'll lie flat. Barely more than a child. He trembles and flinches as he tries to stand again, like a puppy that's been kicked too many times.

The soldiers jeer. Laugh.

And in the glint of sunlight, she sees it.

Tied around the boy's upper arm is a _hitai-ate_.

Fear is sharp in her stomach, it buzzes through her entire body. _You are on your own__, _it says. These men - they are the unknown. They are an army. If they were heartless enough to torture a child, then what could they possibly do to her? Blood rushes through her head and her heart beats so loudly that it feels like a drum. _Be afraid, _the fear says again.

_I **am** afraid_, she admits, eyes narrowing.

But that fear is _nothing_ compared to the unfamiliar, fiery rage bubbling in her stomach.

* * *

><p><strong>. <strong>

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**.**

Thanks for reading,

_Goldking_

P.S. - (**spoiler**) I had no idea I managed to get one of the kid's names right before chapter 700 came out. That's pretty cool. Though my Himawari and canon Himawari not only look different, but seem to be heading in very different directions.

P.S.S. - I get asked a lot about the pairings in this story, which I totally get, but I need to make a few things clear. This story is _not _about romance. It has romantic elements in it, but that's not what this story is wholly about. Rather, it's a story about the _consequences_ of Naruto and Hinata's illicit relationship, about how all the characters involved - Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, Sakura, Hanabi, Himawari, and etc - evolve and devolve throughout the years because of this affair.

As for the **OC **in the taggings - that refers to Himawari, because, in the future, this will largely become as much of her story as it is her parent's.


	11. Chapter 11

"I . . . I wanted to fight for you," Naruto tells her ghost, reaching out.

"It's too late," she says back with finality.

**ooo**

It was like watching a candle being snuffed out. One second Naruto was nothing but _redfuryhatred, _and the next he is falling. All the crackling energy is gone, and the forest is quiet when Naruto hits the ground. Fighting his astonishment, Sasuke's sharingan flickers as he examines the body - no chakra, no danger. Safe. It's safe now.

Crows return to the clearing and sit on the high branches, shadows against the sunset sky, blinking as they watch Sasuke tentatively approach the fallen man.

Just to be sure, Sasuke sheathes his katana and pokes at the Hokage's head. He receives a groan in reply, and that's the only confirmation he needs before bending down to personally check. Pulse, good. Body temperature, normal. Of course there are broken bones and blood, and the _damn _missing arm, but the dobe is in one piece.

Sasuke breathes a sigh of relief.

"Idiot," he mutters, carefully arranging Naruto on his back. Sasuke looks apologetically at the half-arm hanging over his shoulder. "You deserved it."

The entire way back to Konoha, Naruto murmurs in his sleep. A few _I'm sorry's, _but mostly names. "Hinata . . . Himawari . . ." and Sasuke has to refrain from tossing the Hokage into the nearby ravine.

**ooo**

Cowards.

Cowardly men torturing a helpless boy.

This is what Hinata thinks as she rigs fifteen trees with flash tags.

It is almost dark enough.

**ooo**

He doesn't hate the Hyuuga, Sasuke ponders as he flies over the walls. She was a decent enough girl, and fractionally less annoying than the majority of the village. For the briefest of seconds he even considered her a breeder for Tsunade's twisted Uchiha Recreation Project.

He wasn't _intentionally _trying to ruin her life (not that he actually cared).

She was just . . . in the way.

In the way of the future Itachi had dreamed of.

In the way of Naruto fulfilling his duty and achieving his goal of a shinobi world without war.

Even if Hinata didn't have the potential to single-handedly destroy everything they had worked for, Sasuke still wouldn't approve of her presence in his friend's life. The dobe needed someone who could reign him in, someone who was just as passionate and loud as he was, who could be feared in her own right - Sakura. The Queen of Fists.

Timid, shy, _weak _Hinata would never fill that role. _Could _never fill that role.

**ooo**

Hinata wraps her daughter's eyes five times over with thick bandaging (three times too many). When she is satisfied with her work, she crouches, her own eyes screwed shut against her forearm, and pulls a thin string.

Detonation sounds like a match being struck, a loud _hiss _that echoes through the woods, and the soldiers look up in unison from their sick little game as the world goes a painful white.

Men scream as the light _burns _into their retinas, but Hinata has no time to be remorseful as she pushes off the ground and is flying through the air, landing right in the middle of the circle. The soldiers flail, many have fallen. It is mayhem. Despite this quickly finds the boy who is curled up into a ball, bloody and blind. He is easy to scoop into her arms though he struggles frantically against her grip.

"It's all right," she soothes as he whimpers against her chest. "It's all right."

And she retreats back into the forest. Himawari's hands flap happily in the air. The boy cries. And Hinata breathes.

**ooo**

His sharingan reads the chakra signature of at least a dozen shinboi. Several Anbu, the rest of Team Seven, and that bitter crone, Tsunade.

"He's unharmed," Sasuke says loudly, knowing that nearly all of the Anbu of Konoha A) hate him, B) want to see him punished in the most brutal fashion possible, C) always eager to try to dole out said punishment themselves.

Even though he can't see their faces, he can practically feel their disappointment when he gently sets Naruto onto the ground and raises his arms in compliance.

Sakura hops over the barrier of Anbu and is instantly in medic-nin mode, running glowing green hands over her husband.

"He's fine," Sasuke says when he sees how distraught she looks.

"His _arm _is missing!"

Shrug. "It's been missing for ten years."

"You two are _always _doing this!" She says irritably, ignoring his comment. "Going off and fighting about the _STUPIDEST THINGS! _If he were awake, I swear I would punch him _so hard_ – I'm going to punch you too once I'm done with him."

_I'd like to see you try, _he thinks, but says nothing as she continues her work. Sakura has always been good at this. Covering up her true emotions with exasperation, long suffering sighs, and bouts of good-natured violence. It's not healthy, he thinks, but then again he's not really the expert at excellent mental health.

"What was it about this time, _huh?" _She snaps.

"Ask him," Sasuke answers nonchalantly, but what he really means _I haven't figured out a cover story yet and hell will freeze over before I tell you the truth, Uzumaki Sakura._

**ooo**

Hanabi decides that she really, honestly, whole-fucking-heartedly, hates the desert. Though when the Kazekage politely asks her how was her trip, she answers with a curt, "Well, Kazekage-san." When she really wanted to say – _My skin burns, sand is entrenched in places it shouldn't be, and if I don't get water soon I will pass out on your rug._

"Gaara," interrupts a woman with four ponytails. Hanabi has seen her before in Konoha with that lump of a Nara boy, though cannot remember her name. "They apparently having urgent news to share with you."

Gaara, who for all his blaring siren red hair, is a man as quiet as death. He surveys them calmly from his desk. "Please . . . speak."

"There is an army heading your way, Kazekage-san."

No change in his expression. Freak. "How do you know this?"

"I witnessed it myself alongside my attendant and sister. We were on our way here when we encountered them on the border of Kawa."

"Barely a twelve hour trek," he says to himself.

The woman with ponytails has gotten her hands on a manila folder and is rifling through it. "That puts them ahead of schedule, Gaara," she says, as monotone as her kage. She crosses the room and hands him the file.

"You _knew _about this?" Hanabi finds herself snapping before she could stop herself. "I hauled my ass across the desert in the burning sun, and you _already knew!"_

Temari's head snaps toward her. Ko, who up until this point, had been standing behind her hisses a reprimanding _Hanabi-sama. _And the kazekage remains as impassive as ever while he examines the paper.

"Your efforts to relay the message, while valiant, were ultimately redundant. We have known of the approaching army for a week now. My apologies," he says in a voice so flat that it resembled Moegi's chest.

Hanabi bites the inside of her cheek. "You understand that there is a force of, at the very least, 40,000 soldier, about to land on your doorstep, yes?"

"Yes, Hyuuga-san," Gaara replies diplomatically. "I would be a woefully incompetent kage if I were unable to see an army that large headed my way. I assure you, we are well equipped to handle them should they choose to attack."

**ooo**

Thankfully, it is only acute chakra exhaustion and few broken bones. Though Sakura rants and raves per usual the entire way to the hospital. Sasuke doesn't understand why she is so upset, she's seen far worse from the two of them before. She should be happy they bought her fractures this time instead of mortal wounds.

Naruto's fast asleep on the hospital bed, but knowing him his wounds will have healed within the next two hours. The bandages and casts are formalities.

Sasuke is not so lucky.

"I told you," he grunts, "I'm fine."

"Shut up," Sakura says as she all but shoves Sasuke onto the remaining bed. He doesn't have time for a reply before she's working him over a little bit too roughly.

Thankfully, she shuts up, and for that he is grateful as he reclines back into the bed. His muscles re-knit and bones repair beneath the green glow of her hands. _I'm tired, _he thinks in one of those rare moments where he allows himself to feel pain.

Just beyond Sakura's head is a window, and through the window he sees the brilliant starry sky. He loses himself in it, lets it all drift away, after all, even he deserves a bit of rest –

"Sasuke," Sakura breaks the silence. "Who is Himawari?"

* * *

><p><strong>.<strong>

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**TBC**

Note: I got rid of the titles. The formatting has been so unreliable lately that I had to. Thank you for all your reviews and critiques, I appreciate them!

**Goldking**


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